Three student teams early winners in Mock Trial event

RIVERSIDE -- Three of the five Southwest County high schools in
this year's Riverside County Mock Trial Competition won their
early-round installments here Friday.

Chaparral High School in Temecula, Murrieta High School and
Temescal Canyon High School defeated their rivals. Paloma Valley
High School and Temecula Valley High School were defeated.

The contest continues today at the historic Riverside County
Courthouse in downtown Riverside.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Riverside
Convention Center.

Despite the commitment required of the Mock Trial teammates,
Warren Ko, "prosecutor" for the Temecula Valley High School team
coached by teacher Jeff Waugh and real-life prosecutor John Davis,
echoed the sentiments of many participants when he said he was in
it for reasons that have little to do with the law.

"I joined for the experience, and because I love public
speaking," said Ko. There is some possibility the junior will go
into law, but he said he is more interested in political
science.

The competitors took on the roles of prosecuting attorneys,
defense attorneys, defendant, and witnesses before real judges and
court commissioners. Instead of juries, they performed for judges,
real attorneys watching from the jury box.

One of those judges, Riverside attorney Diane Roth, said she was
impressed with the Temecula Valley performance. "I've been doing
this 15 years and this is one of the best competitions I have
seen," she said.

The students "tried" a fake case assembled by real attorneys,
who volunteer their time for everything from putting together the
fake case to coaching the students to running the Mock Trial
days.

The "defendant" was accused of killing her 6-year-old daughter
-- 18 years before. Students had to study the law, study court
precedents, and develop cases that would convince the judge to find
the defendant guilty when they were prosecuting, and convince a
judge she was innocent when they were on the defense team. All the
teams performed on both sides.

Murrieta Valley High School senior Alicia Dickinson was one of
the exceptions among the Mock Trial participants. She has her eye
on the law. In the fall, she will enter the Marine Corps, which
will pay for her schooling and make her an attorney.

"I don't know why," Dickinson said of her career choice. "I just
wanted to be a Marine."

Her teammate, Anne Cusack, said she joined up because she plansto spend a portion of her college career at Georgetown Universityin Washington, D.C., and a counselor from Georgetown told her itwould look good on her application.

"But there wasn't even a space for it on the application," she
said.

Nonetheless, she said, the experience was valuable. She plans to
study political science and, without batting an eye, says, "I'm
going to be a congresswoman."

Dickinson was the star witness in the trial, in which Murrieta
defeated Palo Verde High School. She played Devon Tanner, brother
of the murdered girl. Cusack played an expert witness.

The students spent a semester, some in regular class and some in
after-school sessions, studying for the Mock Trial Competition,
which has evolved into a prestige assignment for high-achieving
high school students.

Davis, whose daughter, Erin, is on the team, said Temecula
Valley High School had to do the Mock Trial training as an
extracurricular activity because almost all of the students on the
team are in honors classes and could not afford to drop one of
those classes for the lower level Mock Trial work.

Some of the students really got into their roles.

Linsy Daki, "defense attorney" for Paloma Valley High School,
paced the courtroom behind the attorney rostrum, gesticulating, and
letting her voice rise in passionate support of her client.

"I do it because I want to be an actress," said Daki, that and
the fact that "I like to argue."

Temescal Canyon freshman Mandy Johnson said it is too early in
her high school career to decide a career, but she enjoyed her role
as the victim's brother because it helped her develop stage
presence. "You learn as you go," Johnson said. "Different attorneys
ask different questions. You have to think on your feet."